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TGF News Briefs
From our fabulous News Hawks!
Have you seen a TG-related news story online or in your local paper? Send it in to TGF and become a News Hawk! Don't assume we know everything that's out there, because you are our eyes and ears. To file a story, send it in to Cindy.
Police Abuse Tijuana TVs
Transvestites and transsexuals in Tijuana, Mexico, are under
renewed assault from the city police department's Special Forces,
reports the local newspaper Frontera Gay.
The paper cited "constant arrests of young men dressed as women
or simply wearing makeup, abuse during arrest, two and three
hours trips [around the city] in police vehicles, body searches
that include ripping off clothes, insults, and sexual harassment
for the enjoyment and diversion of the officers."
"They hunt [transgendered people] like rabbits, on the sidewalks
in front of nightclubs and on the streets of the city," the paper
said.
Those taken into custody are charged with offenses to public
morality, prostitution, drug possession or theft.
"These abuses signal the ominous intention of the police to
divide gays into 'acceptable' and 'unacceptable,' 'discreet' and
'shameless,' with prejudice against the most vulnerable groups
within the community," Frontera Gay said.
"Veronica," a drag performer at the club Noa Noa, has been
arrested three times in six months. The most recent time, she was
driven around the city for three hours then taken to the Special
Forces headquarters on International Avenue and ordered to strip
"so we can check that you don't have drugs hidden up there."
The officers proceeded to slap her rear and paw her face and
chest, Frontera Gay said. One officer ordered her, "Dance so we
can see how good you are in your show."
Finally, they told her, "If you suck us off, we'll let you go and
won't take you before the judge."
Veronica refused and was convicted of "scandal in the public
way." She opted for a 350 peso fine ($42) rather than 36 hours in
jail, and was released.
Numerous other transvestites interviewed by Frontera Gay related
nearly identical stories.
Tijuana is located 15 miles south of downtown San Diego, Calif.
Michael Jackson's Drag Turn
Contributed by Elizabeth Parker
A German news agency reports pop superstar Michael Jackson
went shopping in Munich this week dressed as an Arab woman.
DPA says a large, unnamed toy store confirmed that Jackson
and his son came into the store in disguise, while a mob of
fans staked out the singer's hotel.
--via People Online
UK Mayor Hopeful Shocks Easily
Contributed by Elizabeth Parker
It was a picture opportunity any man hoping to be the future Mayor of
London would rather do without.
But for Jeffrey Archer he spotted her, or rather him, a little too late.
While surrounded by a group of female Unicef workers at a charity bash
last night held to celebrate the Oscars, one "lady" took him by surprise.
At first Lord Archer, who was busy running an auction at the event at
central London's Hanover Grand, smiled politely at the tall blonde who stood
behind him on stage.
But as he realised the stunning looking figure dressed in a sequined
mini-dress was more of a masculine nature, the author reeled away in horror.
The transvestite had been invited to the star-studded event, it was
confirmed later, but perhaps he had not been expected on stage.
The event raised 11,000 for Unicef with lots in the auction including
Vanessa Redgrave's costume from Mission Impossible and a catalogue from the
auction of the dresses of Diana, Princess of Wales.
--via PA News
Penzance' With a Major, General Twist
Contributed by Hebe Dotson
An amplified voice that identified itself as Sir Arthur Sullivan
greeted the audience for "The Pirates of Penzance" Sunday
afternoon in Lisner Auditorium; it remarked that Queen
Victoria had enjoyed the show and added, "Let's hope the
queens here like it, too." They did. Produced and performed
by the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington, complete with
lavish costumes, functional scenery and a small but adequate
orchestra, it was a smashing success.
The most ambitious project in the 150-voice chorus' 17-year
history was a highly unusual "Pirates of Penzance" in its
casting (all male) and its performing style -- distinctly campy,
with occasional loud audience appreciation of certain words
(not only "queen" but also "fairy" and even "rough") that get
no special reaction from most Gilbert and Sullivan audiences.
The all-male casting was particularly noteworthy, since a
major element in this show was a 16-voice chorus of proper
Victorian young ladies as the daughters of a very modern
major general (Barry L. Mendelsohn). Most of the chorines
were visually convincing, decked out in long, colorful gowns,
obviously naive and somewhat scared of the world around
them, self-consciously girlish in mannerisms and gestures.
Then they began to sing and were revealed as tenors and
baritones, as were the soloists in the roles of Ruth (the
excellently comic Robert Wonneberger), Edith (Ted Spencer)
and Kate (Todd Paul).
Not so Mabel, the female lead, who comes to the aid of the
discouraged and lovesick young pirate Frederic (Kevin Doss).
This role was sung, in the proper soprano tessitura, by the
pseudonymous "Davina Pons," described as a "dragmatic
soprano," who stood nearly seven feet tall in high heels,
towering above her pirate suitor and producing some truly
remarkable, frequently steady high notes and dazzling bits of
coloratura. This performance erased memories of Linda
Ronstadt in the movie version and put other cast members in
a sort of shadow for reasons that were not entirely musical.
But the whole production, conducted by James Holloway and
directed and choreographed by Mark Smouse, was
professional in caliber with a minimum of self-indulgence, and
capable performances by all of the above as well as Stan
Drake (the Pirate King), Tom Baldridge (Samuel) and Michael
Patrick Foster (the Sergeant of Police).
--Via the Washington Post
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